Jonathan Lethem’s new collection of stories is a feast for his fans and the perfect introduction for new readers—nine fantastic, amusing, poignant tales written in a dizzying variety of styles, as Lethem samples high and low culture to create fictional worlds that are utterly original. Longtime readers will recognize echoes of Lethem’s novels in all these pieces—narrators who can’t stop babbling, hapless would-be detectives, people with unusual powers that do them no good, hot-blooded academics, and characters whose clever repartee masks lovelorn desperation as they negotiate both the stumbling path of romance and the bittersweet obligations of friendship. Among “The Vision” is a story about drunken neighborhood parlor games, boys who dress up as superheroes, and the perils of snide curiosity. “Access Fantasy” is part social satire, part weird detective story. Evoking Lethem’s earliest work, it conjures up a world divided between people who have apartments and people trapped in an endless traffic jam behind The One-Way Permeable Barrier. “The Spray” is a simple story about how people in love deal with their past. A magical spray is involved. “Vivian Relf” is a tour de force about loss. A man meets a woman at a party; they’re sure they’ve met before, but they haven’t. As the years progress this strangely haunting encounter comes to define the narrator’s life. “The Dystopianist, Thinking of His Rival, Is Interrupted by a Knock on the Door” is a Borgesian tale that features suicidal sheep. (This story won a Pushcart Prize when first published in Conjunctions .) “Super Goat Man” is a savagely funny exposé of the failures of the sixties baby boomers, and of their children. Sparkling with the off-beat humor and subtle insights, Men and Cartoons is a welcome addition to the shelf of the writer “whose bold imagination and sheer love of words defy all forms and expectations and place him among his country’s foremost novelists.” — Salon

“No one does suburban paranoia like Shari Lapena.” —Ruth WareThe new gripping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next DoorWhen a beloved wife and mother disappears, a luxurious condo building transforms into a potential crime scene, and the investigation can the detectives find her before it's too late?Bryden and Sam have it thriving careers, a smart apartment in a luxury condominium, supportive friends and a cherished daughter. The perfect life for the perfect couple.Then Sam receives a call at his office. Bryden – working from home that day – has failed to collect their daughter from daycare. Arriving home with their little girl, he finds his wife’s car in the underground garage. Upstairs in their apartment her laptop is open on the table, her cell phone nearby, her keys in their usual place in the hall.Except Bryden is nowhere to be seen. It’s as if she just walked out.How can she have disappeared from her own home? And did she even leave the building at all?With every minute that passes – and as questions swirl around their community – Bryden and Sam’s past seems a little less perfect, their condominium less safe, their friends, neighbours and relatives no longer quite so reliable . . .

“No one does suburban paranoia like Shari Lapena.” —Ruth WareThe new gripping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next DoorWhen a beloved wife and mother disappears, a luxurious condo building transforms into a potential crime scene, and the investigation can the detectives find her before it's too late?Bryden and Sam have it thriving careers, a smart apartment in a luxury condominium, supportive friends and a cherished daughter. The perfect life for the perfect couple.Then Sam receives a call at his office. Bryden – working from home that day – has failed to collect their daughter from daycare. Arriving home with their little girl, he finds his wife’s car in the underground garage. Upstairs in their apartment her laptop is open on the table, her cell phone nearby, her keys in their usual place in the hall.Except Bryden is nowhere to be seen. It’s as if she just walked out.How can she have disappeared from her own home? And did she even leave the building at all?With every minute that passes – and as questions swirl around their community – Bryden and Sam’s past seems a little less perfect, their condominium less safe, their friends, neighbours and relatives no longer quite so reliable . . .

The Wisdom of Pooh. Is there such thing as a Western Taoist? Benjamin Hoff says there is, and this Taoist's favorite food is honey. Through brilliant and witty dialogue with the beloved Pooh-bear and his companions, the author of this smash bestseller explains with ease and aplomb that rather than being a distant and mysterious concept, Taoism is as near and practical to us as our morning breakfast bowl. Romp through the enchanting world of Winnie-the-Pooh while soaking up invaluable lessons on simplicity and natural living.

The Wisdom of Pooh. Is there such thing as a Western Taoist? Benjamin Hoff says there is, and this Taoist's favorite food is honey. Through brilliant and witty dialogue with the beloved Pooh-bear and his companions, the author of this smash bestseller explains with ease and aplomb that rather than being a distant and mysterious concept, Taoism is as near and practical to us as our morning breakfast bowl. Romp through the enchanting world of Winnie-the-Pooh while soaking up invaluable lessons on simplicity and natural living.

A beautifully crafted, devastating short fiction collection from the Bram-Stoker finalist and author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes. Eight stories of literary dark fiction from a master storyteller. Exploring the shadow side of love, these are tales of grief, obsession, control. Intricate examinations of trauma and tragedy in raw, poetic prose. In these narratives, a woman imagines horrific scenarios whilst caring for her infant niece; on-line posts chronicle a cancer diagnosis; a couple in the park with their small child encounter a stranger with horrific consequences; a toxic relationship reaches a terrifying resolution… Originally published under the title The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales, this is a much-praised collection of deeply unsettling, painfully dark tales.

A beautifully crafted, devastating short fiction collection from the Bram-Stoker finalist and author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes. Eight stories of literary dark fiction from a master storyteller. Exploring the shadow side of love, these are tales of grief, obsession, control. Intricate examinations of trauma and tragedy in raw, poetic prose. In these narratives, a woman imagines horrific scenarios whilst caring for her infant niece; on-line posts chronicle a cancer diagnosis; a couple in the park with their small child encounter a stranger with horrific consequences; a toxic relationship reaches a terrifying resolution… Originally published under the title The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales, this is a much-praised collection of deeply unsettling, painfully dark tales.

In a world where faeries are born with tattoos of debt to the High Fae, one servant must navigate a game of dangerous, sensual court politics between her mistress and the king—the first installment in a dark fantasy series. As a palace faerie, Avery is busy preparing Lady Kassandra, a High Fae of the House of Illusions, for the upcoming coronation. Both of their freedoms rely on Kassandra, to escape her violent brother, and Avery, to pay off rings of debt tattoos she has inherited from her family, which force her to serve the High Fae. After a series of tragic events, Avery is forced to split her loyalties between Lady Kassandra and the newly crowned King Maxian, an alluring High Fae of staggering power. Avery agrees to spy on the King in exchange for liberating her family from debt, forming a triangle that proves more dangerous by the minute—further complicated by Avery’s warring desire and resentment for both Maxian and Kassandra. But freedom from her debt grows further out of reach when she’s forced to test her loyalties, leading her to uncover secrets about the High Fae with earth-shattering implications. Soon, Avery must find out whether the faeries—and herself—are really as powerless against the High Fae as they seem...or whether she just might hold the key to freeing them all.

In a world where faeries are born with tattoos of debt to the High Fae, one servant must navigate a game of dangerous, sensual court politics between her mistress and the king—the first installment in a dark fantasy series. As a palace faerie, Avery is busy preparing Lady Kassandra, a High Fae of the House of Illusions, for the upcoming coronation. Both of their freedoms rely on Kassandra, to escape her violent brother, and Avery, to pay off rings of debt tattoos she has inherited from her family, which force her to serve the High Fae. After a series of tragic events, Avery is forced to split her loyalties between Lady Kassandra and the newly crowned King Maxian, an alluring High Fae of staggering power. Avery agrees to spy on the King in exchange for liberating her family from debt, forming a triangle that proves more dangerous by the minute—further complicated by Avery’s warring desire and resentment for both Maxian and Kassandra. But freedom from her debt grows further out of reach when she’s forced to test her loyalties, leading her to uncover secrets about the High Fae with earth-shattering implications. Soon, Avery must find out whether the faeries—and herself—are really as powerless against the High Fae as they seem...or whether she just might hold the key to freeing them all.